A walk around Granville Island
Granville Island is a favourite place of mine to stroll around on a rainy day in Vancouver. To be clear, it is great in good weather too but when it is wet the industrial-artistic buildings, galleries and walkways reveal beautiful details. The wood gleams, the rusty browns and reds in weathered metal become deeply saturated and the blooming flowers of mid-March glow despite the grey skies.
When I used to live in Vancouver I would head down to the market on the island regularly. When dark clouds greeted us one morning during a visit my friend Jack and I made to Vancouver in March, my memories of Granville in the rain came back and it was fun to wander around there once more.
Eventually we did head into the market for a little while. The food was, as usual, incredible and we walked out with several bags of fruit as a temporary keepsake from the morning.
I didn’t buy any fish but I did ask the gentlemen presiding over the chilly group below if I could photograph. The rough, inconsistent pattern caught my eye.
All of the morning’s hard work built up a thirst so we stopped by the Granville Island Brewery’s Taproom. These lightbulbs looked like they were from someone’s Steampunk dream and I was compelled to ask a couple if I could lean over next to them in order to grab a quick shot.
On the way out of the maze of buildings, this metal rail contraption drew my attention. It wasn’t in motion, I’m not even sure that there was anything that did move, but it was really cool.
A little earlier, I had really enjoyed the metal construction art at the entrance to the Ocean Concrete yard along the island’s waterfront facing the inlet. The two pieces seemed like distant cousins with the house suggesting a slightly more inviting alternate reality. It is a very cool place where even a concrete company gets into the artistic vibe.
Another great tour through Granville Island. I’m looking forward to the next one, rain or shine.
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
Muscle Cars – Grill Badges and Styled Letters
We met some good friends and their boys in Cochrane for a classic car show just outside of the town. The kids had a great time looking at all of the roadsters, muscle cars, coupes and funny cars. I was drawn to the emblems and lettering used on the cars from the 50’s and 60’s – there was a style that was spread across most makes and models that was very compelling.
Great lettering script on this Mercury Monarch Richelieu
Headlights from a Dodge Challenger
An amazing two-seater open-top sports car the Lotus Seven
A detail from a Ford Galaxie at the show
Chevrolet’s brilliant chrome past as found on a ’56 pickup
I love this classic Mustang’s grill, particularly the horse itself
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
Angel on our bookshelf
This little clay angel lives on one of our bookshelves. Although she lives within reach of my kids, we haven’t had any accidents with her involved, which is a small miracle on its own. She was lit beautifully through a south facing window in the afternoon which made for a pretty easy photograph. A nice, calm scene to enjoy.
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
Graffiti Photographs
I don’t actively hunt graffiti out but occasionally there is a piece that demands a second look when I see it. Whether because of the color, the shapes, the location or something less tangible, I have to photograph the occasional piece. Here are four pieces where I like the art and the way I captured them in a photograph.
An incongruous drawing in the bedroom of a long abandoned farmhouse near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.
Railroad cars have no shortage of graffiti on them. This little bird and the weathered paint attracted me more than the larger canvases nearby.
This van’s delivery days are long past but it is doing great brightening up a back alley in an industrial section of Calgary.
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
The Trees on Stephen Avenue
These structures are located in Calgary’s downtown at Bankers Hall. They are called The Trees and were erected in 2000. At 85 feet tall, they loom over the pedestrian street and command attention. They were designed to break up the wind in the corridor created by the street as it runs east to west through downtown.
A friend of mine is a painter and we went downtown yesterday to build a series of images that he can use for reference of a large canvas he wants to work on. It was a lot of fun to collaborate on the front end of his creative process. I’m looking forward to watching his vision come to life.
I really like the abstract forms that can be created out of the sculpture’s curves and the angular lines of the surrounding buildings. Combined with the reflections in the windows, there is a lot to work with for artists in many mediums.
Christopher Martin Photography 